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Designing a Double Dutch House

When architect Francine Houben needed more space, she expanded out of her ultra-modern Rotterdam home and into the 19th-century brick house next door

By

J.S. Marcus

March 13, 2014 5:00 p.m. ET

THE DUTCH, like everyone else, dream of owning their own homes. But they rarely realize that dream by starting from scratch. "In Holland there is not a tradition of building your own house—even among architects," says Francine Houben, founding partner of Mecanoo, a booming architecture firm in the city of Delft.

As it turns out, Ms. Houben, 58 years old, is an exception to the rule. Over the past two decades she has designed and redesigned a unique residence in the Kralingen neighborhood of nearby Rotterdam....